Sulu claimant against Manila's claim
Published on: Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A so-called crown prince of the Sulu Sultanate on Monday pledged to end the Sulu claim over Sabah and "liberate" his fellow countrymen in Sabah under an independent monarchy called Sulu Darul Jambangan in the Southern Philippines. Datu Khudar S.J Kiram II, 59, who claimed to be the direct descendant of the second son of Sultan Jamalul Alam, Sultan Jamalul Kiram II, promised to free Sabah. He did not elaborate. Jamalul Alam was the sultan who signed the lease agreement with Baron Von Overbeck and Alfred Dent on Jan. 22, 1878 in Sulu and Datu Khudar claimed he is in possession of the Sabah grant. He said once he returned to Manila next week he will call for a press conference to reiterate that the Sulu Sultanate will stop the claim over Sabah, adding that the Philippines Government will no longer have the right to interfere in the affairs of the Sulu Sultanate.
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Furthermore, he said doesn't want anything to happen to Sabah because he had spent his years growing up in Sabah but maintained he would still prefer to be a Filipino citizen. Coming from a lesser known Sulu Sultanate family lineage, Khudar who is now residing in Manila in the Philippines, said his family line had always been supportive of Sabah joining Malaysia, saying he doesn't want Sabah to fall under the Manila "Christian Government." "We all wanted Sabah to remain a Muslim country…during the declaration on Sept. 1963, my father Sultan Jamalul Kiram II was on stage behind Tun Mustapha, and I was also on stage."I was probably around six years old at the time but as I understood Sabah could not enter into Malaysia without the nod of the Sulu Sultanate, which came from my father," he told reporters.
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He said until today his family had become the backbone of Sabah, although unhappy that many people are also claiming the Sultanate lineage, with some having launched hostile campaigns to reclaim North Borneo over the years. According to Datu Khudar, his brother, Sultan Rodinhood Kiram II, is the present and rightful reigning Sulu Sultan but had no interest in running the kingdom, and hence, all the administrative duties come under him. Khudar's claim comes following the death of Esmail Kiram II on Sept. 25 due to kidney failure, with reports of the next in line being Raja Muda Datu Phugdal Kiram, 75.
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But unlike Esmail who succeeded the late Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, the self-styled leader who launched a military campaign to take over Sabah in March 2013 in Tanduo Lahad Datu, Khudar said he wants to put an end to this claim over North Borneo and restore the Sulu Sultanate name after being shamed by Kiram III. And any future attempt to intrude Sabah, he said, will have to go "over my dead body," and put a stop to individuals who also claimed to be Sulu Sultans from conferring the "Datu" title to Malaysians. His reasons were he had seen the changes and development brought by the government and peace-loving Sabahans."Firstly we and the rest of the family are deeply saddened by the incursion in Tanduo, Lahad Datu. Many people died in the incursion, including my fellow countrymen. "We do not condone or were involved in the incident which was carried out by a bunch of rebels and destroyed the good name of the Sulu Sultanate and the people of Sulu themselves," he said. He said he is familiar with Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman who was also his school prefect, while Datuk Seri Anifah Aman was his schoolmate and Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak was his classmate in Form One, when he was schooling here at Sekolah Kebangsaan Sembulan, Sabah College and thereafter in Kuala Lumpur, when he was still staying in Sembulan years ago. Besides, he said the Kiram family was not hostile, pointing out the actions of the self-styled Sultan Jamalul Kiram III who had no sovereign rights had desecrated his family name. Datu Khudar said the late Kiram III came from the descendant of a younger sibling of his great grandfather, Sultan Nawalil Wasit and that his family had insulted his father who refused to be part of the nine claimants to Sabah. He revealed the actions of Kiram III in 2013 were fuelled by funds from "outsiders." "Although some of his men are now being captured and tried in the court, I will not help his men. If I found any of my subjects are doing drugs, I will cooperate with the police and tell on them. "Kiram's men have created their own mess. If they want out they could ask their own leader. They are not my subjects," said Datu Khudar and revealed he won't get involved in the campaign for the release of kidnap hostages, saying that "it's just a crime committed by a bunch of gunmen trying to make a living." He said the kidnappers are forced to carry out such acts due to the expensive prices of goods in Tawi-Tawi and had to resort to the crimes to survive. DATU Khudar, he has bigger plans in mind and that is to create his own self-governing nation called the Sulu Darul Jambangan. He claimed he has close to a million subjects with MyKads currently residing in Sabah and plans to call them back home to the Southern Philippine region of Mindanao to rebuild this nation. Datu Khudar said he was saddened at times at how his subjects with MyKads are being treated like "toilets" by politicians in Malaysia who used them mostly for political mileage and to win elections. "I'm truly sorry but this is the truth. Each time there is an election some parties insulted my people and also use them to win votes but after winning the election our contributions are not remembered," he said. But he said he has no qualms with the politicians and instead continued to advise his people to continue to support the Barisan Nasional Government as the leaders have allowed them to live here in peace and also to prosper. "I have told them not to bite the hands that feed you and want them to continue to support the government until my nation is created," he said. Datu Khudar said if all goes well he will call for their return in August next year and will declare the nation's independence on Aug 8, coinciding with his father's birthday. Towards this end, he also promised to return the Sabah Grant back to the State Government and put an end to all future claims over Sabah by the Sulu Sultanate relatives. Datu Khudar said his plan is supported by one of the Philippines Presidential candidates who goes by the name of Maruas who is expected to be one of the opponents of Senator Bong Bong Marcos in the election run next year. According to him, the Philippine Government now is willing to listen to their demands due to the killing of 44 Filipino soldiers by alleged Muslim separatists, although such claims had never been proven in court. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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